Venetian blind construction



y 1957 K. P. MAYER 2,792,880

i VENETIAN BLIND CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 13, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.28

Karl P. Mayer IN V EN TOR.

BY MM 15% 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

May 21, 1957 K. P. MAYER i I VENETIAN BLIND CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 15,1956 I and Karl P. Mayer 'BY flzwaafim unllllllllll V May 21, 1957 K. P.MAYER VENETIAN BLIND CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 13, 1956 kar/ P. Mayer INVENTOR.

VENETIAN BLIND CONSTRUCTION Karl P. Mayer, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application January 13, 1956, Serial No. 558,934

6 Claims. (Cl. 160-115) This invention relates to Venetian blinds andparticularly to a Venetian blind which is capable of providingindependent upper and lower adjustments of the slats.

An object of the present invention is to provide a simplified Venetianblind having an upper and lower group of slats, the upper and lowergroup of slats being independently adjustable and being capable of beingraised and lowered, there being means provided for the purpose ofpreventing the front and rear strands of tapes at the top fromseparating and bulging objectionably when the Venetian blind iselevated.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simplified improvedmeans of attaching the tapes to the lower tilt slat of the upper groupof slate.

Another object of the invention is to provide a practical Venetian blindof the type which has upper and lower groups of slats that areindependently adjustable, there being separate means for tilting the twogroups of slats and a common device for elevating both groups of slats,the entire construction appearing very similar to one of the commonlyavailable types of Venetian blinds but possessing the above mentionedadditional advantages.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to likeparts throughout, and in which: Figure 1 isan elevational view of a Venetian blind made in accordance with theteachings of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side view of the Venetian blind in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged elevational view with parts broken away insection showing the upper tilt bars that are adapted to be located inthe header box, there being a single tilt bar for each group of slats ofthe Venetian blind; t a

Figure 4 is an end view of the structure in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a plan view of the header box with the structure removedtherefrom;

Figure 6 is an elevational view of the header box Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a transverse sectional view taken on the plane of line 77 inFigure 5;

Figure 8 is a side view of the structure of Figure 5 with parts beingshown in section; and

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the clip for attaching the tapes tothe lower slat of the upper group of slats.

In the accompanying drawings there is a Venetian blind 10 whichillustrates the principles of the invention. This blind comprises anupper group 12 of slats together with a lower group 14 of slats. Theseslats are suspended from header box 16 by means of a first and secondtape 18 and 20 respectively for the lower group 14 of nited StatesPatentO ICC slats, and a third and fourth tape 22 and 24, respectively,for the upper group 12 of slats.

Header box 16 consists of a generally U-shaped housing having a bottom26 together with sides 28 and 30 which rise from the bottom 26. Bottom26 has a first pair of slots 31 and 32 for the front and rear strands oftape 18; a second pair of slots 34 and 35 for the front and rear strandsof tape 20; a third pair of slots 38 and 39 for the front and rearstrands of tape 22; and finally a fourth pair 41 and 42 of slots for thefront and rear strands of tape 24. The strands of these tapes passthrough their respective slots that are formed in the bottom 26 ofheader box 16 near the junction of the bottom with the sides 28 and 30.

The mechanism for raising and lowering and for adjusting the tilt angleof all of the slats is carried in the header box 16. It consists of twotilt bars 46 and. 48, each being of similar construction and function.The tilt bar 46 is for the lower group 14 of slats and therefore tapes18 and 20 are secured thereto. The attachment of the tapes is made byplacing their upper ends over rollers, for example the tape 18 on roller50 and holding the tapes fixed to the rollers. The rollers are in turnfixed to the tilt bar 46 so that upon rotation of the tilt bar, thetapes are adjusted in such a manner as to tilt the slats of lower group14. A mounting bracket 52 is adapted to be disposed in the header box 16and includes an end plate 53 together with sides 54 and 55 and atop wall56. The

top wall has downwardly opening and laterally extending hooks 58 and 60which seat on the upper edges of the sides 28 and 30 of the header box16. This mounts the bracket 52 in the header box. Plate 53 has a bearing62 formed in it near its top in which one end of the tilt bar 46 ismounted for rotation. A sleeve 66 is fixed, as by being riveted, to asurface of plate 53. The upper section of sleeve 66 is cut away to formslot 69 in which one end of tilt bar 48 is placed so that tilt bar 48may be mounted for rotation in sleeve 66. The tilt bar 48 has tapes 22and 24 secured thereto, as by being fastened to rollers 70 in a manneridentical to the attachment of tape 18 to roller 50. The means fortilting the bars 46 and 48 are in essence identical to each other. Forthe bar 46 there is a mounting bracket 74 having at its upper endlaterally projecting, downwardly opening hooks 76 and 68 that are placedon the upper edges of sides 28 and 30 of header box 16. This supportsthe mounting bracket 74 and also the mounting bracket 80 inasmuch as itis fixed to bracket 74 by means of plate 82, the latter being spotwelded, riveted or otherwise fastened to the two mounting brackets 74and 80. Pulley 84 is fixed to a shaft 85, the latter being mounted inbearings that are carried by bracket 74. Worm 86 is fixed to shaft andis in mesh with gear 88. Gear 88 is mounted for rotation on a stub shaft90, the latter being supported by bracket 74. At the upper edge of gear88 there is an arm 91 whose outer end is provided with a night angularextension 92. This extension has a non-circular, preferably square orrectangular, opening 93 in which a similarly cross-sectioned end of tiltbar 46 is mounted. Therefore upon rotation of the pulley 84, the wormand gear is correspondingly actuated in order to rotate extension 92.The center of opening 93 is in alignment with the axis of rotation ofgear 88 so that upon rotation of this gear, the tilt bar 46 will berotated rather than laterally displaced.

Pulley 95 is secured to shaft 96, the latter being mounted in bearings97 and 98 which are secured to bracket 80. Worm 100 is fixed to shaft 96and is en 3 meshed with the gear 102. This gear is mounted for rotationon a stub shaft 104 carried by bracket 80. Plate 106 protrudes from theupper end of gear 102 and has a right angular extension 109 at the endthereof provided with an aperture 110. Aperture 110 is similar toaperture 93 and functions to; drive andsupport the tilt bar 48. Tiltrope 112 extends through aperture 114 inthe bottom 26 of the header box16 and is engaged with the pulley 83. Tilt rope 116 extends throughaperture 118 in the header box bottom 26 and is engaged with the pulleyS 5. Therefore when the ropes 112 and 116 are manipulated the lower andupper groups respectively of slats are adjusted in view of thedisplacement of the front and rear strands of the tapes.

These tapes, for example see tape 18 in Figure 3, are fixed to therollers that are in turn fixed to the tilt bars 46 and 48. Theattachment is made by having a clip for each tape. Clip 122 is a coverfor the roller 50 and has tabs 124 and 126 struck therefrom beneathwhich tape 18 is inserted. After so locating the tape tabs 124 and 126are bent downwardly to bite into the tape and hold it firmly fixed inplace on the roller.

In order to raise and lower the Venetian blind rope 130 is passedthrough the pawl box 132, the latter being of standard construction.Lifting rope 130 is passed through aperture 136 in the bottom of theheader box and. has strands which pass through openings 137 and 138 inbottom 26 of header box 16. These strands also pass through alignedopenings in all of the slats of the Venetian blind and are attached tothe lower tilt board "149 of the bottom group 14 of slats. The strandsof the rope which pass through the slats of the Venetian blind areconcealed behind tapes 18 and 20. In assembling the Venetian blind, theslat tilt mechanism shown best in Figure 3, is disposed in the headerbox with the hooks placed over the upper edges of the sides thereof. Therivets 143 are fitted in aperture 145 to help hold the tilt mechanismand assembly in place.

Tapes 18 and are fixed to the tilt board 140 in the customary manner.However, the tapes 22 and 24 are attached to the lowermost slat 150 ofthe upper group 12 of slats by a very thin and unobtrusive fasteningdevice (Figure 9). This device comprises a curved plate 152 which isshaped to conform to the curvature of the slat cross-section. Two tabs153 and 154 are formed on one end of the plate 152, while tabs 155 and156 are formed on the opposite end thereof. These tabs are bent overopposite marginal edges of the lowermost slat 150 with the tapethereunder.

Customary cross tapes 160 are secured to and extend between the frontand rear strands of all of the tapes. The slats are disposed on thesecross tapes 166. However, for the upper group 12 of slats there is animprovement due to the dissimilarity of adjustments of the upper andlower groups of slats. This improvement consists of in addition to thecustomary cross tapes 160, additional cross tapes 164 which are locatedclose to the cross tapes 160. This means that each slat is supported atthe top surface as well as the bottom surface so that the properangularity in the adjustment is always maintained, regardless of windconditions and other disturbances. In addition the tapes 18 and 20 haveslightly longer cross tapes 168 which extend across and which aresecured to the front and rear strands thereof. These cross tapes 16$constitute means for preventing the strands of the tapes 18 and 20 fromspreading objectionably when the lower group 14 of slats is elevatedtogether with the upper group 12. Accordingly, the objectionable bulgingand spreading of the upper tapes is completely avoided by having severalcross tapes 168 which extends between the slats of the upper group 12and which are preferably at an angle while the cross tapes 160 arehorizontal.

In operation the ropes 112 and 116 are used to adjust the upper andlower groups of slats to the desired areasso angu larity. Rope is pulledin order to elevate the entire Venetian blind, the lower group of slatsbeing first elevated and then the upper group.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A Venetian blind comprising an upwardly opening header box providedwith a bottom and side walls, a first and a second tilt bar in said box,a first and a second tape, two pairs of passageways in said bottomthrough which said tapes pass, said tapes being secured to one of saidtilt bars, a lower group of slats carried by said tapes, an upper groupof slats disposed between said tapes, a third and a fourth tapesupporting said upper group of slats, two additional pairs ofpassageways in said header box bottom through which said third andfourth tapes pass, means securing said third and fourth tapes to theother of said tilt bars, and means secured to the front and rear strandsof said first and second tapes and passed between the slats of saidupper group of slats for preventing the front and rear strands of saidfirst and second tapes from spreading when the blind is raised.

2. A Venetian blind comprising an upwardly opening header box providedwith a bottom and side walls, a first and a second tilt bar in said box,a first and a second tape, two pairs of passageways in said bottomthrough Which said tapes pass, said tapes being secured to one of saidtilt bars, a lower group of slats carried by said tapes, an upper groupof slats disposed between said tapes, a third and a fourth tapesupporting said upper group of slats, two additional pairs ofpassageways in said header box bottom through which said third andfourth tapes pass, means securing said third and fourth tapes to theother of said tilt bars, means connected to said first and said secondgroups of slats for raising and lowering said slats, and means securedto the front and rear strands of said first and second tapes and passedbetween the slats of said upper group of slats for preventing the frontand rear strands of said first and second tapes from spreading when theblind is raised.

3. In a Venetian blind which includes an upper and a lower group ofslats, tapes for. said upper group of slats connected therewith, tapesfor said lower group of slats connected therewith and including frontand rear strands which are disposed respectively on the front and rearof said upper group of slats, and cross tapes on said strands securedthereto and passed through the slats of said upper group in order toprevent said tapes for said lower group of slats from bulging when theVenetian blind is elevated.

4. In a Venetian blind which includes an upper and a lower group ofslats, tapes for said upper group of slats connected therewith, tapesfor said lower group of slats connected therewith and including frontand rear strands which are disposed respectively on the front and rearof said upper group of slats, cross tapes on said strands securedthereto and passed through the slats of said upper group in order toprevent said tapes for said lower group of slats from bulging when theVenetian blind is elevated, said tapes supporting said upper group ofslats including cross tapes on which said upper group of slats aredisposed, and additional cross tapes located adjacent to the lastmentioned cross tapes and overlying the slats of said. upper group ofslats in order to hold said slats of said upper group of slats captivewhile they are being tilted.

5. In a Venetian blind, an upper and lower group of slats, tapes having.front and rear strands provided with 9,792,880 s l 6 cross tapessupporting said lower group of slats and ext1ona1 tapes between saidfront and rear strands are tending on the front and rear sides of saidupper group longer than said cross tapes. of slats, additional tapeshaving cross tapes supporting said upper group of slats, and meansincluding tapes Refl'ences Cited in the file of this Patent which extendbetween the front and rear strands of the 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS firstmentioned tapes and which extend between slats of 2 148 812floningsworth Feb 28 1939 said upper group of slats for preventing thestrands of 2156150 French 1939 said first mentioned tapes from spreadingat the top there- 2706522 White 1955 of when the Venetian blind iselevated. u

6. The Venetian blind of claim 5 wherein said addi- 10 2719586 Graham1955

